FC125The Emergence of Modern Japan (1868-1937)

Rich country, strong army
— Meiji motto

Decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate

In
the early 1800's the peace and stability of Tokugawa rule came
unraveled, leading to a period of turmoil and then restructuring from
which a modernized and revitalized Japan would emerge. Several forces
combined to generate these changes. First, 200 years of peace and being
disarmed by the Tokugawa government undermined the power and even the
reason for the existence of the Samurai. Second, the encroachment of
the British into China and the ensuing Opium Wars led many Japanese to
worry about the threat of encroachment on their shores and the ability
of the Shogunate to deal with it. Finally, a series of bad harvests in
the 1830's triggered inflation, disease, and unrest in Japan. The
result of these various forces was a struggle between traditional
isolationists who wanted to keep Japan cut off from the outside world
and reformers who wanted to open it to the West and institute reforms
to shore up the declining shogunate.

However,
before Japan could come to a firm policy one way or another, the West
intervened to decide the issue. The United States, by taking California
in the Mexican War (1846-8), had become a Pacific power practically
overnight. In 1853, a flotilla of American warships commanded by
Commodore Perry delivered a conciliatory letter from the president to
the Japanese head of state and a more belligerent letter written by
Perry himself. The gist of Perry's message was that Japan had better
open its doors to the West or the United States would kick down those
doors and force Japan to trade.

The Tokugawa Shogunate,
seeing Japan was no match for the United States, capitulated when Perry
returned the next year. The immediate results for Japan, and especially
its government, were disastrous. With the Americans came an influx of
Mexican silver, which triggered more inflation. A cholera epidemic also
hit at this time. These, plus the humiliation this situation brought to
the Tokugawa Shogunate, caused its fall in 1868.

The Meiji Restoration (1868-c.1890)

Replacing
the shogunate was the restored imperial court under the emperor
Matsuhito, called Meiji ("enlightened rule"). The Meiji regime would
oversee the transformation of Japan from a largely feudal and agrarian
state into a powerful industrial nation. This is often seen as a
reaction to and imitation of industrial state building in Western
Europe, in particular that of Germany. While this is partially true,
Japan during the Tokugawa period had developed in ways that prepared it
for the Meiji reforms. For one thing, the Tokugawa Shogunate had
maintained a unified Japan for over 200 years, thus helping create a
Japanese nation. Also, during this time a strong middle class had
evolved along with the financial techniques needed to adapt to
industrial capitalism.

As a result, Japan was
able to make the transition to an industrial nation state while
maintaining its own unique Japanese values of loyalty to the group and
the emperor. For example, the Japanese corporation that evolved during
this period can largely be seen as an updated version of the
paternalistic feudal state, where the workers (peasants) owe lifelong
loyalty and service to the company (lord) in return for its protection
of their welfare. Japan's transformation into a major power can be seen
as taking place in three successive stages: political and social
reforms, industrial and military reforms, and early expansion.

Japan
went through several Western-style political and social reforms to
create the conditions conducive to industrial and military
modernization while maintaining a distinctive Japanese character. In
order to destroy Japan's feudal structure, the Meiji government
replaced Japan's old provinces with seventy-two modern districts. As in
the West, all class distinctions were abolished. This especially hurt
the Samurai who now were even forbidden to wear their swords or
distinctive hairdos. Public education became mandatory for all boys and
girls in order to create an educated work force and instill a spirit of
nationalism in them. A European style parliament was formed, but like
its German model, it had little real power. The emperor kept his
exalted position while Shinto was made the state religion, both of
these providing points of focus for Japanese national loyalty.

With
the political and social reforms in place, the Meiji government
proceeded to industrialize Japan, concentrating on heavy and strategic
industries: railroads, the merchant marine, mining, modern agricultural
techniques, munitions, and the navy. However, Japan had no large-scale
capitalists. Therefore, the government, in keeping with Japan's
paternalistic tradition, paid for these industries and then sold them
at low cost to a few private investors. These new capitalists, called
the Zaibatsu ("money clique"), would come to control 70% of Japan's
bank deposits and heavily influence government policies, much as the
daimyo (feudal lords) had done in previous times. Thus began the
long-time alliance of government and big business, which is still a
predominant feature of Japan today. One other reform was that of the
military. In 1873 the government began universal conscription, which
deprived the Samurai of their privileged position as the warrior class. This triggered a Samurai revolt.
Surprisingly, the conscripts fought well and crushed the revolt, thus
destroying the samurai's aura of invincibility.

Japan's quest for empire

By
1890, Japan had largely industrialized and was ready to look outward to
protect what it saw as its interests. In a series of three conflicts,
the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and World War I, Japan
emerged as a major power. Its first concern was Korea, the closest part
of the Asian mainland to Japan and which Japan had claimed since the
1500's. The other primary contender for control of Korea was China to
the north. In the ensuing war, known as the Sino-Japanese War (1894-5),
Japan's modernized army made short work of the outdated Chinese forces,
taking Taiwan and establishing its influence over Korea. In addition,
this further weakened China's government and helped lead to a
revolution in 1911 and eventually to the Communist revolution and
victory in 1949.

More shocking
was Japan's unlikely victory over the Russian army and navy in the
Russo-Japanese War (1903-5). This gave Japan the Liaotang Peninsula and
even tighter influence over Korea, which it finally annexed in 1910. It
also triggered a revolution in Russia, which, although unsuccessful,
helped lead to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the triumph of the
Communists there.

During World War I Japan declared war
on Germany, easily taking its possessions in East Asia. However, China,
also on the allied side in the war, had claims over those territories.
Japan emerged the winner in this dispute, so that by 1919 it had
control of Korea, Taiwan, and the Liaotung Peninsula. Not surprisingly,
relations with China continued to deteriorate.

In
the 1930's two things made those relations much worse. One was Japan's
burgeoning population that forced it to import food. The other was the
Great Depression, which cut Japan's trade and its ability to pay for
that imported food. This led to growing military influence, violence,
and instability in the Japanese government. In 1931, Japan seized
control of Manchuria from China. The Western powers, mired in their
problems with the Depression, were unable to help China. Throughout the
1930's, military control of the Japanese government tightened. In 1937,
that military government invaded China, thus starting World War II in
Asia.